Sports: March 25, 1998

Sports (overview)

• Women's squash wins national championship

• Cagers edge Penn

• End of beginning for women's hoops
  Longtime teammates Pressley and Wetstone anchor turnaround

• Track: Nicole Harrison '98

• Ice hockey: Goalies brace for playoffs

• Scoreboard & Highlights

If you've ever tried to push a car out of a ditch, you can empathize with squash coach Gail Ramsay. The first push gets you almost nowhere, but as the car rocks back, it generates momentum for a second push, which gets you a little closer, as does the next push, and the one after that. Frustrated but determined, you keep trying, because you know the next push could be the one that does it. In February, at the end of her fourth year of pushing, Ramsay and her team stood in mud-spattered triumph at Yale University.

After finishing second to Harvard in the Howe Cup Tournament three times in a row, including a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in the finals last year, the Princeton women (9-0, 6-0 Ivy) roared out of their ditch with an 8-1 win over the Crimson to become the top collegiate squad in the nation. "I was pleased with the plan we've orchestrated over the past two seasons, and it was exciting to watch it fall into place," said Ramsay. She described a multi-level strategy that included recruiting, better fitness training, and practices that were more structured. "The players went into [this season] knowing we had what it would take to win the title, but that we had to get the work done," she added.

Led by their remarkable freshman Julia Beaver, the Tigers got it done all year long. A prized recruit from Brooklyn, Beaver stepped into the void left by the graduation of last year's number-one, Katherine Johnson '97. She clobbered her dual-meet opposition, compiling an 80 match record in the top slot without losing a game, and helped Princeton earn the Barhite Trophy (awarded to the top-ranked dual-meet team in the nation) en route to an Ivy title and the Howe Cup. Beaver's only disappointment was a semifinal loss in the individual championships at Harvard on March 1.

At the Howe Cup, the Tigers blanked Williams College, 9-0, as Beaver sat out and cocaptains Elise O'Connell '99 and Missy Wyant '98 played in the top two slots. Beaver was back in the lineup when Prince-ton made equally short work of Dartmouth the next afternoon, winning 9-0 to enter the finals. Beaver topped last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, Ivy Pachoda, 3-0, in the top spot, but O'Connell lost to Harvard's number two, Brooke Herlihy, in five games. In the remaining matches, Princeton's superior depth was evident. Wyant earned a 3-0 win at number three, and Blair Irwin '00, perfect in dual-meet play all season, won 3-0 at number four. In all, Princeton dropped only seven games on its way to the 8-1 win.

The team loses only Wyant to graduation this June, and though Ramsay concedes the senior cocaptain's departure will be an emotional blow, she can't deny there are no more ditches in the future of her team -- just a lot of open highway.

-- Rob Garver

Cagers edge Penn

The high-flying men's basketball team (26-1 overall, 14-0 Ivy) came back to earth a little during its 78-72 overtime win over Penn in Philadelphia on March 3. With its national ranking and a probable top-five seed in the NCAA tournament on the line, the Ivy League-champ Tigers were fortunate this game didn't end in regulation: Penn's Michael Jordan had a chance to win the game for the Quakers in the final seconds, but his three-pointer missed, leaving the game tied, 66-66.

Penn scored first in the overtime, but Princeton center Steve Goodrich '98 answered, giving his team a 69-68 edge. Quaker misses and a score by forward Gabe Lewullis '99 (pictured) made it 72-68; Goodrich added two foul shots at 1:44 to put the Tigers up by six. From there the two teams traded defensive stands and foul shots -- the end result a Princeton win that was too close for comfort. "I wanted us to suffer a little bit, to see if that would help us," said coach Bill Carmody. "But this was a little too much suffering."

A career-high 33 points from Goodrich and outstanding play by Lewullis (who had 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a tremendous blocked shot in the second half) made the difference for the Tigers. The win gave them a school-record 19 straight wins and the first back-to-back undefeated Ivy seasons in school history. At press time they awaited word on their NCAA seeding.

End of beginning for women's hoops
Longtime teammates Pressley and Wetstone anchor turnaround

After a disappointing 7-19 season last year, the women's basketball team (16-10 overall, 10-4 Ivy) made a splash in the league this season, earning second place and upsetting champ Harvard to end its two-year Ivy League win streak at 32 games.

Senior guards Zakiya Pressley and Sara Wetstone, with classmates Kristin Henderson and Lynn Makalusky, deserve credit for the team's success. But Pressley and Wetstone have been especially influential: Pressley with her outstanding play as a starter, Wetstone with her leadership as a team captain.

Both accepted the responsibility to help their teammates last year, when eight freshmen joined the team. The young squad was reeling after 11 losses in their first 12 games, but Pressley and Wetstone (along with Kim Allen '97) stepped forward to rally the Tigers.

"It was a learning experience in how to be a leader," says Pressley of the losing streak. "When eyes are looking at you in tough situations, saying 'What do we do now?', you have to look right back. Not hiding in difficult times is half of being a leader." Pressley's numbers show she never hid; she finishes her career with 719 points, 217 assists, 271 rebounds, and 158 steals.

Taking on such responsibility may have come more easily to the pair because Pressley and Wetstone have themselves worked side-by-side for eight years, playing together in high school at Lakeside in Seattle, Washington, where they won two state titles before coming to Princeton. As they depart, each hopes they have transmitted the same dedication to their teammates.

"Next year I want [the 12 returning players] to need to give everything they have in order to feel satisfied about their play . . . In preparation, in practice, and in games," says Wetstone. "They need to hold each other accountable and make themselves the standard for the way this team plays."

As a reserve player, Wetstone's commitment to that approach wasn't apparent in all the Tigers' games -- unless you kept an eye on the bench, where she would greet every player coming off the floor with a high five and words of praise. "I've learned a lot about how to give to the team in different ways -- being encouraging, just listening," she said.

Consecutive victories over Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, and Penn to end the season, put Princeton among the Ivy favorites next year, and there was plenty for the team to be happy about as the season ended. For the seniors, however, thoughts of next year were bittersweet.

Said Wetstone, "The other day I got a message from Coach Feeley saying we wouldn't be having practice, and for some reason that's when it hit me: every afternoon would be like that once the season was over. It really shook me. I guess I'm addicted to this team -- it's going to be hard to recover."

-- Paul Hagar '91

Track: Nicole Harrison '98

Looking for the women's track team? Her name is Nicole Harrison '98, says women's coach Peter Farrell. He calls the sprinter, hurdler, and sometime long-jumper "the flagship athlete" for his team, and a "once in a lifetime" find for an Ivy program. Her performances show why.

Last year Harrison earned six individual titles at the indoor and the outdoor Heptagonal meets (team competitions with opponents from the Ivy League and the Naval Academy). As a result, the senior from Houston was named the Heptagonal Outstanding Performer at each meet. At indoor Heps, her meet and university records in the 55 (6.94) and the 200 (24.22), helped the women win a team title for the first time in eight years. She holds university records in the 55-meter hurdles (7.61 seconds), the 55 (6.94), and the 200 (24.22) indoors, and has outdoor marks in

the 100 hurdles (13.08), 100 (11.68), 200 (23.50), and long jump (19' 3/4").

On March 1, the Tigers again relied on cocaptain Harrison for a solid performance at indoor Heps. She came through, tallying 30 points by winning the 55-meter hurdles (7.91 seconds) and the 55 (7.06) and 200 dash (24.36) to lead her team to another indoor title. Princeton had 112 points to second-place Brown's 91. Cocaptain Hadiya Green '98 also won, taking first in the long jump.

The men also won at Indoor Heps, 138-115; it was their fourth Heps victory in five years. High-jumper Tora Harris '01 won his event with a leap of 2.17 meters; in the 3,000, Adam Stuhlfaut '98 and John Carson '98 finished first and second, respectively. Peter Kimball '98, Chris McFadden '00, Rob Motz '98, and Biren Roy '01 combined to win the 4 x 800 relay; Kimball also won the 800 meters.

New Stadium

The men's and women's showings at indoor Heps bode well for the upcoming outdoor season; Princeton will dedicate William M. Weaver '32 Track and Field Stadium, its new facility, on May 2. The men's team will be led by javelin-thrower Rob Manning '98, whom men's coach Fred Samara calls "the best in the East"; other top contenders are Alex Furman '99 and Mike Spence '00 in the steeplechase, Tora Harris '01 in the high jump, and Scott Denbo '01 in the shot put. Samara says he expects strong performances in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter events as well.

Harrison will lead the women's team outdoors, and she hopes to perform at her highest level. "The outdoor season basically determines whether I'll hang up my spikes," she said. Harrison plans to qualify for the national championship again, but added: "Just to qualify doesn't satisfy me anymore. I want to win NCAAs."

Harrison has gotten used to moving fast both on and off the track: she's premed, majoring in sociology with a certificate in African-American studies, and is a minority affairs adviser in Mathey College. After graduation, she hopes to get a sponsor and continue to race. If not, there's always medical school. On the wall of Harrison's room hang hurdles from various meets that, in accordance with tradition, have been handed down by the women's track team. Tori Simmons '96 passed the hurdles to her; she must leave them to someone else when her career reaches the finish line this spring. Along with those hurdles, Harrison will leave behind a string of records that are no less a part of Princeton's track heritage.

-- Sarah Slonaker '98

Ice hockey: Goalies brace for playoffs

On the hockey rink, it all comes down to the goalie sometimes -- witness the domination of the Czech Republic's Dominik Hasek, who led his team to a gold medal in this year's Olympics. As Princeton's men's ice hockey team (13-8-6 overall, 7-8-5 ECAC) entered its final weekend of regular-season competition on March 6 and 7 in sixth place, that same kind of burden rested on goalie Erasmo Saltarelli '98. Injuries had decimated the team, especially on defense, yet the Tigers needed to climb two points in the standings in order to get home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

If Princeton had been preparing for war instead of the playoffs, commander-in-chief Don Cahoon might have opted to negotiate a truce. His troops had suffered numerous casualties down the stretch, the most of any year in coach Cahoon's tenure. Seven players were nursing injuries that severely limited their practice and game time, among them three defensemen. To compensate, the crafty Cahoon had occasionally dropped a forward, such as leading scorer Jeff Halpern '99, back to the blue line, but Saltarelli shouldered the bulk of the extra responsibility.

Saltarelli, a native of Montreal who's majoring in psychology, boasted a 2.95 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage at press time. He was confident in his ability to step up in the crucial games that remain. "I don't mind the pressure," said Saltarelli -- perhaps because he's his own toughest critic. On February 27 and 28, the struggling Tigers earned their first three-point weekend in four tries, a 4-4 tie with Vermont and a 5-3 defeat of Dartmouth. Yet Saltarelli lamented the lost fourth point that would have come with two victories. "I was making good saves, but I wasn't making 'the big save,'" he said.

"When Erasmo's in net, we don't even think about the goaltending position," says forward Joey Pelle '98. "That's a gauge of how well the goalie is playing." Saltarelli reciprocates the feeling for his overworked defensive group: he credited Steve Shirreffs '99, Jackson Hegland '99, Chris Barber '00, and a banged-up Darren Yopyk '00 for solid play despite the loss of regulars Michael Acosta '99 and Peter Zavodny '01. For Princeton to make another playoff run, Saltarelli and his ironman defenders will have to dominate.

Women's hockey

The women (11-15-2 overall, 8131 ECAC; 3-7 Ivy) also needed a gold-medal performance of their goalie, Tammy Orlow '98, as they returned to Northeastern's Matthews Arena for a quarterfinal game on March 7 against the defending-champ Huskies. A 3-3 tie at Northeastern in the regular-season finale six days earlier put the Tigers one point up on Harvard for seventh place. That prompted a rematch with second-place Northeastern, the ECAC's preseason favorite.

Princeton had fared well against the Huskies this year. In addition to the tie, in which the Tigers had jumped out to a three-goal lead, they had traded volleys with Northeastern in a fast-paced, 7-5 loss at Baker Rink in November.

The women also have encountered their share of difficulty this year, the kind that is expected from a young squad. While it would be easy to look toward next season, given the development of young defensemen such as Kate Fox '00, Jordan Rettig '01, and Annie Seelaus '00, the confident Tigers were eyeing the rematch with Northeastern as the springboard to a grand finish.

"Talent-wise, Northeastern is the second-best team in the league," said coach Jeff Kampersal '92. "But they can be undisciplined and take penalties. If we don't retaliate, we can use our power play." In the two regular-season clashes, the Tigers had 11 power-play opportunities, while the Huskies managed only five. A victory meant a trip to the semifinals and championship, held on March 14-15 at Matthews.

Orlow (an anthropology major from Oxford, Ohio) flourishes when opponents keep her busy. She has turned in three 40-save outings in the last 13 games, including 44 in the tie with Northeastern. Last month at St. Lawrence, Orlow stopped 38 Saint attempts in a 4-3 victory. Had the Tigers lost that game, they wouldn't have qualified for the playoffs.

"Down the stretch, [Orlow] has been very good," said Kampersal. "The players get a confidence boost . . . knowing that if they make mistakes, she's there to bail them out. If we can get the first goal of the game, we feed off that momentum."

-- Mike Jackman '92

Scoreboard

M. basketball